Dead Lonely (A Zombie Romance)

an interactive film by Aardman

Rapt Media teamed up with Aardman, the four-time Oscar award-winning studio and talented team of storytellers behind “Wallace and Gromit” and “Shaun the Sheep,” to explore the space between interactivity and storytelling.

Together, it became our mission to see how interactive video could be used to tell stories in new and innovative ways—ways that would allow the viewer (you) to connect deeper with the story’s protagonist by having a say in the choices made.

The bigger question then becomes: does this lead you to be more emotionally invested for longer, and can your digital emotion then be measured? Welcome to “Dead Lonely,” where Fred, our protagonist, searches for his lost love in a post-apocalyptic world—and you get to help him find her.

“We wanted to partner with Rapt Media on this creative endeavor because our two teams have similar beliefs and philosophies about interactive content and how it can change the way people engage with stories.”

Daniel Efergan, Aardman Group Creative Director

“We wanted to partner with Rapt Media on this creative endeavor because our two teams have similar beliefs and philosophies about interactive content and how it can change the way people engage with stories.”

Daniel Efergan, Aardman Group Creative Director

Behind the Scenes with Aardman

the making of a post-apocalyptic love story

Discover and learn from Aardman about their experience with interactive storytelling while making “Dead Lonely.” Hear directly from the film’s director/writer, Sam Morrison, digital creative director, Jake Manion, and senior digital producer, Laura Chilcott, on why the team was inspired to create this interactive video experience, what went into both story and character development, and how they wrestled with applying interactivity and choices that would matter.

The Value of Interactive Storytelling:How to Measure Digital Emotion

The Value of Interactive Storytelling:How to Measure Digital Emotion

The Power of Choice

“Dead Lonely” invites the viewer to engage and become a participant in our apocalyptic world by clicking “enter.” Asking viewers to take action immediately draws them in, sending them down an interactive path of exploration.

The Power of Choice

“Dead Lonely” invites the viewer to engage and become a participant in our apocalyptic world by clicking “enter.” Asking viewers to take action immediately draws them in, sending them down an interactive path of exploration.

Deeper, Longer Engagement

Aardman merged their interactive storytelling and gaming background with incredible character design. The videogame-like experience means a wrong choice can end our main character Fred’s (already-dead) life, sending one back to the video’s start. By helping Fred navigate an apocalyptic world to find love, our desire to help Fred grows stronger.

The ‘Gratitude Effect’

Offering captivating characters, storylines, and the ability to self-navigate not only delivers stronger engagement, it creates “the gratitude effect.” In exchange for a rewarding experience, the storyteller is able to ask for something in return—in the case of “Dead Lonely” it’s furthering engagement through embedded calls to action.

The ‘Gratitude Effect’

Offering captivating characters, storylines, and the ability to self-navigate not only delivers stronger engagement, it creates “the gratitude effect.” In exchange for a rewarding experience, the storyteller is able to ask for something in return—in the case of “Dead Lonely” it’s furthering engagement through embedded calls to action.

Calls to Action (or Driving Behavior)

A more deeply, emotionally engaged audience is more willing to give something back in return. In this case, embedded calls to action within the interactive video experience offer up the ability to engage with additional content, to share on social, or to contact Rapt Media or Aardman directly.

The Ability to Measure Emotion

Being able to map the participant’s choices throughout Dead Lonely enables the ability to measure and derive insights from the content experience. In addition to being able to measure the length of time spent, path taken, and choices made, you can measure conversions from the CTAs taken.

The Ability to Measure Emotion

Being able to map the participant’s choices throughout Dead Lonely enables the ability to measure and derive insights from the content experience. In addition to being able to measure the length of time spent, the path taken, and the choices made, you can measure conversions from the calls to action taken.